I noticed a lot of negative feedback, though unfortunately there are many dishonest companies out there. I currently work with a company that cleans duct work and we DO NOT use any scare tactics or up sell services or equipment. Once every 10years of course there are exceptions. We clean supply, returns, air handler, housing, motor, and fan. Though be discerning when qualifying anyone to work in your home. I would ask for REAL REFERENCES to contact.

Clean air delivery rate is the amount of clean air an air cleaner provides to a room or space. When determining CADR, the amount of airflow in a space is taken into account. For example, an air cleaner with a flow rate of 100 cfm (cubic feet per minute) and an efficiency of 50% has a CADR of 50 cfm. Along with CADR, filtration performance is very important when it comes to the air in our indoor environment. Filter performance depends on the size of the particle or fiber, the filter packing density and depth and also the air flow rate.[30]
Pro HVAC company Southern Comfort Mechanical says on its blog, “If there’s mold growth inside the handler due to excess moisture, algae in the condenser drain line or a dirty evaporator coil, it can negatively impact your AC unit’s efficiency. The filters inside may also build up excess dirt and become clogged, which will also make your AC [or heat pump] waste energy trying to sustain the cool climate inside your home.” These issues are easy to solve. They don’t require replacing the air handler.

Ok what you said is true but in most cases ducts are in a duct flex format, and knowing that the dust in people's flex duct is just surface dust, any real debris that are in the duct itself will result in very little to no air flow which will keep your unit from performing properly, but if it is true allergy reasons then replacing your duct system is better for overall better air quality, plus if you do pay attention to the warranty on flexible duct is that it only has a 10 year warranty and typically only lasts for 20 years so do your research before having a duct cleaning, and to add one more thing if your duct work is completely metal and you can't see visible insulation then your duct on the inside has insulation inside of it, if you replace that with duct work that is clean metal on the inside and wrapped with insulation on the outside then it will further reduce the air bourne fiberglass and dust.

Before we get to HVAC installation prices, we will first need to briefly discuss some terms, definitions, and factors that will affect how an honest HVAC installation company determines their prices. Notice that I said honest. Unfortunately, there are dishonest people out there. There always have been, there always will be, and there is a good chance that you had an experience with such a contractor, which is what drove you to read this article. I can’t teach you how to tell if someone is honest, but I can give you the knowledge to help you decide. Take a look at How to Choose an HVAC Contractor for tips on what to look for.
When these aren't properly maintained and sanitized, they can build up dust, pollen, and even mold. This means when the air conditioner or heater turns on, the spores are released into the air for you to inhale. While some are less harmful, people who have allergies or sensitivity to certain spores will react negatively. Plus, mold is dangerous for anyone to ingest and should be avoided by regular maintenance.
NADCA and EPA both have good points. Although, organizations are made to make money. Common sense and looking at NADCA and EPA pre-checklist. If you don't see it in the check list, you don't have to do it! But, if you do, look up Diamond certified co.s and the BBB. Beware of bait and switch scams, $60 vents and the like coupons which claim to help all for the measley sum of $79.00 bucks.
It’s 11 years plus in the industry I have only had to sanitize two systems both were slab systems that were in concrete and could be cleaned with a different method than normal duct cleaning. We were able to use water to rinse out the disinfectant. Would you use a chemical on anything else you use to eat or drink with and not rinse it off? The ducts in your home should be thought of as your homes heart and lungs and breathe the same air that you do. And just like us we wouldn’t use bad chemicals in our lungs and heart.
You can adjust for seasons: During the summer, you can have the air conditioner stay off during the cooler morning hours and start cooling the house as everyone gets up and starts moving around. During the winter, you can have your heater stay off while you are away at work and turn on about a half hour or so before you get home so that you are coming home to a nice, warm house.
Tip – Be careful with change-outs. Ductwork deteriorates and sometimes has to be replaced. It is only if the ductwork is in fantastic condition that you should get a change-out without ductwork (Remember – the ductwork has already been there for 15-20 years, and now it will be there another 15-20…it has to be in good shape). However, many HVAC installation companies like to push change-outs because the ductwork is the most time consuming part of the job, and a change-out is quick, easy money. Realize that it’s only about 15-20% of the jobs that qualify for a change-out, so be careful.

2. If air quality is so important and duct cleaniliness is so uncertain, why not adopt doubling filtering; that is, in addition to the existing main furnace filter, add a filter at each air outlet. I understand replacing so many filters would be a burden, but air outlets can be designed for easy filter replacement. The builders and home design engineers should bear responsibility to provide good and low maintenance homes, rather than prioritizing on fancy or costly featuers for homes.

I had someone out to clean my ducts last weekend. He took a blue bag up in my attic. He came back down in just a few minutes and said I had mold and he even showed me a picture of something saying it was mold but I couldn’t really tell. I refused his service to take care of the mold. He went back up in the attic for a little while and then came down. I never heard any sounds that he was actually up there doing anything. How do I know if he actually cleaned the air ducts?
Undertaking an AC installation in Fort Smith, AR? The first thing to remember is that your air conditioning unit will need repairs now and then to remain efficient. Granted, many repair emergencies can be avoided through proper maintenance procedures. When your AC fails we provide reliable, affordable repairs of the highest standards. Enhanced efficiency and longevity is the name of our game.
R-22 Freon is being phased out & isn't readily available. So the service company may only purchase as needed and the lack of availability would make their cost high. But, as long as they can get it, whatever the cost, unfortunately, is less expensive than replacing the A/C. Which will be the case eventually since it's no longer manufactured or sooner as in my case with a not so old a/c that sprang a leak, that would have been just a repair, but since it uses R-22 the whole unit has to be upgraded(replaced).
A thorough visual inspection is the best way to verify the cleanliness of your heating and cooling system. Some service providers use remote photography to document conditions inside ducts. All portions of the system should be visibly clean; you should not be able to detect any debris with the naked eye. Show the Post-Cleaning Consumer Checklist to the service provider before the work begins. After completing the job, ask the service provider to show you each component of your system to verify that the job was performed satisfactorily.
Our HVAC Ductwork Installation Cost Guide is the most comprehensive guide of its type. It fully explains the purpose of ductwork and all your options. Pricing is included for all duct types and plenums/drops too. Material and installation costs are listed. Ductwork cost varies greatly by the size and type of duct plus the complexity of the installation, but you can expect to pay $10.20 to $17.25 per linear foot installed.
Monday the following week, no phone calls, or follow up. I call to get an update and am told that they cannot install my system because they don't have time. I ask what does that mean, one year? One week? Until the end of summer they say. What does that mean I ask? They say at the end of September. I say thank you for wasting 1 month of my time.
I spent a lot of time reading all these posts and frankly I can’t believe the way some people think. 1. If there is dust and dirt of any kind in my HVAC system I want it out, the mentality that it can stay there and it’s fine is fulish as the system turns on and off microscopic particulates will move in and out of your living space and you will definitely breath them in. The air quality of your home or office will only be as clean as the system that produces it. We don’t not clean things simply because we can’t see them, it’s what we can’t see that can do the most harm. Dust will build up in a system fairly quickly and will get damp at times allowing mold to grow and mold releases spores without any movement as part of its defense meconisam so don’t tell me that when your system turns on it won’t blow the spores out into the living spaces of your home. A build up of dust will cause failures to your system over time, equipment that works harder to do its job will run hotter with more strain and this will lead to brake downs and until then the system will run less efficient then it should. The system was engineered to move a certain volume of air through a specific duct size, when that duct size starts to become narowed down with dust build up your system has to work harder to move that air this is why you will end up with a loss of efficiency and eventually breakdowns or failures. I have seen systems develop a significant amount of dust build up in as little as two years, just look at how fast the filter gets clogged up and it isn’t all that hard to believe. As for all the scams that are out there they hurt the industry because people can’t decipher between them and the legitimate companies, BBB is helpful. Recommendations from HVAC contractors will be a good resource and a good company will provide a written estimate with a complete brake down of what they are going to do and why, most of which is comen sence once they explain it to you, then if you spend about 5 minutes watching them once they are set up you can see they are doing what they said they would do and let’s get real would you do a job that should take approx 3 hours per system for $29/$39/59 or something close to that, if you think you are going to get a good job from a comp that has to make money at that price you shouldn’t be mad at anyone but your self for trying to get quality work at a scam price. If it’s done right it will be very beneficial and depending on the size of your system and where you are in the world it’s going to cost you approx $300 to $600 per system large and or older systems may cost even more. Remember a quality job isn’t wasting money but a lousy job is, even if it’s only $29. I’d rather spend $600 on a quality job then $29 on a lousy job!! Good luck..
SEER is useful for comparing one model to another much in the same way that a car's calculate MPG is useful. It's not an accurate prediction of exactly how efficient the system is, but it can tell you which one is more efficient. Also, since SEER is based on a "cooling season", what region you live in will determine how long or short your cooling season is.
Humidifiers/Dehumidifiers: Humidifiers add needed moisture to the air in winter and very dry climates. Dehumidifiers remove dampness any time of the year. Central air conditioners dehumidify too, but in very humid climates, you might want to remove humidity without also cooling the air. You have a good range of options for both of these HVAC accessories. Whole-house humidifiers cost $350 to $800 installed, while dehumidifiers are $1,250 to $2,000 or slightly more.

Duct cleaning has never been shown to actually prevent health problems. Neither do studies conclusively demonstrate that particle (e.g., dust) levels in homes increase because of dirty air ducts or go down after cleaning. This is because much of the dirt that may accumulate inside air ducts adheres to duct surfaces and does not necessarily enter the living space. It is important to keep in mind that dirty air ducts are only one of many possible sources of particles that are present in homes. Pollutants that enter the home both from outdoors and indoor activities such as cooking, cleaning, smoking, or just moving around can cause greater exposure to contaminants than dirty air ducts. Moreover, there is no evidence that a light amount of household dust or other particulate matter in air ducts poses any risk to health.